Class Structure in the 'Land of the Free'

My last post, and particularly the comments from it, got me thinking about American class politics and structure. The Romantic image that we are brought up with in Britain is that the USA is the 'Land of the Free' - the land free from class barriers, free from artificial restraints of birth, the land free with every possibility. This Romantic ideal haunts the history of the American pioneers, the pilgrims and the cowboy. The Declaration of Independence sounds like this ideal is sealed into law:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

It is a most attractive proposition. It sounds like Utopia. It sounds too good to be true. It is.

America has a class structure. But it is different from the long established aristocratic familial one in Britain. At the time of the Declaration, most white affluent men owned slaves who were never accredited the title of "Man" written by their masters. Women were disenfranchised and powerless. The poor immigrants from Ireland were kept one step away from slavery by the nature of their skin. Thomas Paine's idealism bore little relation to the class structure of the New States of America of his day and the acknowledgement of every man being created 'equal' came also with an equally large blind spot. Its a stirring message in theory, full of hope and value but in practice it has never been fully applied.

In America there are still the upper class that [pay to?] go to the vaulted Ivy Leagues of Harvard and Yale. There they find there is a commonly accepted and even encouraged means of solidifying such class structure - the Greek System of Fraternities and Sororities. When I first came to this country I was dumbstruck by such institutions. Here were these students voluntarily joining "houses" where they lived like they were at a private boarding school in Britain - only with alcohol thrown in for good (or bad) measure.

They have "rush" week where freshmen attend parties where they are tempted by the lure of each house and then vetted by each house until they are finally accepted or rejected. The general means used for vetting? Who they are! What does their father do? How much does he earn? Which school did they go to? What is their major and how much are they likely to make after graduating? And is she still a virgin or at least has she been faithful and pure towards her high school sweetheart?

Acceptance then means the ushering of a degree of hazing. All Frats and Sororities claim they have outlawed such behaviour but it persists. New members are made to perform demeaning and degrading tasks for senior members. Their desire to be part of this exclusive club is tested to the very limit. After all this is how to win friends and influence people. This will be the social network that will guarantee your career. This will solidify your place in the class structure. This will even help you find a perfect mate for a future perfect family. This is clear because this is what your father and/or mother did so before you.

Amongst this upper class are the WASPs. This stands for White Anglo Saxon Protestants. They are a group at the high end of American society that have held onto power and privilege since they arrived by boat in the 18th or 19th centuries. This breed can mostly be found in such states as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Delaware.

Then there are the family dynasties. The oil rich Bushes. The bootlegging Kennedys.

For all the talk of freedom that abounds in this country everyone knows their place and generally stays there.

But there are the exceptions. This is where I perceive America as different. Only in this country could a poor peanut farmer from Georgia become the 39th President of the wealthiest nation on earth. Only in this country can a poor black girl from the ghetto rise to the top to become her own brand of "O". Only in this country can new money be spent as old resulting in the perpetual fantasy of the lower classes: the American Dream.

I believe it is this dream that keeps America's class structure in check. Why would you revolt against the rich when you hold onto the dream that you too can join their ranks? The upper classes let the occasional Donald or Martha into their exclusive club in order to let the others see from below the glass ceiling that they should tow the line, behave, because they never know when they may be given the key to the golden elevator of upward social mobility.

I think that the American class structure is so very sad for this very fact. The belief that riches are but a dream away placates so many from taking issue with a system that shuts them out.

But as with everything in this country there is also another side and its what I love about this country. For all the people adhering to the system there are others who do not. The Amish, the Mennonite, the Mormons all step outside the mainstream culture that slices society into class. There are people who pioneer outside the boundaries in a progressive activism of thinking and living outside of class. There are the vibrant and varied Gay communities in every American city with San Fransisco and New York leading the way. There are right wing and left wing anti-government types who hanker after the days when not every state was under the federal United States government. And then there are always the crazies. The ugly men dressed as women in South Beach, the freewheeling eternal backpackers and hitchhikers and those who provide fodder for shows on crazy lifestyles or crazy homes for a sleek coffee table book.

America has a class structure that can and does determine a great deal in regards to upward mobility and professional success. But America still retains that glow of the Romantic ideal, the image I was fed growing up, where some individuals step outside that structure and operate in their own way be it for religious, political, ethical, environmental or crazy reasons.
I can never pin this place down.

UK Spin

It was an interesting day for me in the blogosphere yesterday. I got angry at my country being accused of banning the Holocaust when it was untrue. I was really surprised by how upset I got and considering my recent post on what life like an expat is like, I suppose I am still very much patriotic for home in spite of all New Labours bungling and Blair's obedience to his master Bush. I still believe in the integrity of the country I grew up in. I believe in the justice system and the press (excluding the Daily Mail!!) to keep that same system in check.

However as I also wrote in my last post, I was taught in History lessons, in Scotland, all about the causes for the First and Second World Wars. Hitler's rise to power was facilitated by certain factors all lining up. It wasn't that Germany suddenly woke up and decided to persecute the Jews. It was a long build up of perception that the Jews were causing or aggravating the plight of the "german" people. And whilst the UK has not banned the holocaust from the class room, what I learnt in history tells me to be extra vigilant in looking for the signs that resentment is building in a civilised nation to where it could tip into uncivilised thinking and actions.

July 7th 2005 began murmurings in the press and society in general in Britain about Muslims. I remember talking with my friends about it. It was awkward. How do you address fanaticism in the Muslim community? How do you address a group of people who like to create their own community within a society and do not necessarily want to assimilate? How do you address the growing feeling that immigrants are changing the country from how it has always been perceived?

The UK is still very much a class based society. The recent split between Prince William and Kate Middleton has allowed the aristocracy to reveal their distaste for Kate because of her aspiring upper middle class mother and return William to the fold and set about finding him a true blue blood for the future throne. Oxford and Cambridge are still bastions of privilege and old boys clubs. Yahs still frequent the trendy bars in Edinburgh. Which school you went to and who your father is can still get you further in the UK than ability alone.

The difference now is that this class based society does not want to be seen as such. David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, has gone out of his way to prevent a photograph of himself being published. Is he nude? No. Is he drunk? No. Is he wearing women's clothes? No. He is photographed as part of an elitist old boys club in Cambridge. He is in short, photographed as a toff!! He knows this is not the image to win votes. You have to be young cool, green and hip with none of the stuffiness of Oxford dons or polo matches.

The UK is a country of spin, thanks to New Labour. This is a country where perceptions are spun to hide the truth beneath. So we elected a party and prime minister in 1997, who was young cool and hip (alas not green enough..) and who seemed to care for people and making a difference in a way the population was starved of after so much thatcherite incompetency. That election was incredible. The whole country was on a high. It was like the good guys had finally triumphed over the forces of darkness and were riding home in victory. It was infectious.

Finally rid of the Tories, the UK seemed like it may modernise and shake off the class ridden power basis. We may find that the UK could become one of those trendy socialist countries that everyone is envious of - Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland. That was the perception. That was the spin.

Underneath it all everything was the same. We were made to feel one thing when the reality was something different. So I suppose we did "modernise" into the ultimate "postmodern" country of Baudrillard's "Simulacra" where we are always spun away from reality. I did not know of Tony Blair's righteous Christian beliefs. I did not for a moment think that He and George Bush would have anything in common. New Labour might have had a face lift but surely they were supposed to be somewhat close to the left? Blair's beliefs had me thinking he was one of those Christians who truly care about the poor and helping people and to be fair I think some of that is true. But I was totally unaware that that would morph into a "holier than thou" attitude that invading foreign lands to liberate suffering people was OK. I suppose the high he got upon being first elected must have lasted too long.

Britain is a country of two faces. One is the outward modern one that has a diverse multicultural society that welcomes immigrants (I personally believe that after taking over half the world its only right that those people we colonised should be able to come and live in the UK too - although I can guarantee they won't like the weather). The other is a conservative class structure that wishes to preserve power and influence. I fear what would happen if the conservative elite ever felt truly threatened. I fear they would hold onto power at all costs. The compromise right now is that through the spinning of the simulacra everyone can feel hip and cool and modern and open and free whilst the mechanism doing the spinning is the same fixed structure that its always been.

UK is NOT banning Holocaust from School Books!!!

I was wondering what to blog about this morning when I saw this headline:
"E-mails are circulating around the world, claiming that the UK has banned the teaching of the Holocaust in schools."
You can read the BBC article here. I am so disturbed by this and have already read one blogger post on the subject. (I know this is not about N'awlins but I'm so angry that I'm posting on both my blogs!!)

It pains me to think that people (highly intelligent thinking people) actually think that my country would do such a thing. When I was in school in Scotland our History classes were focused on the causes of the First and Second World Wars. I know more German History than Scottish. Why? So that we could learn that we are all susceptible to Germany's mistakes and that our country had a large role in causing the First World War which led to the Second.

We have war veterans who liberated the concentration camps in eastern Europe. We adhere to the Geneva convention. We have a free and very vocal press. If this was true they'd be shouting it from the rooftops!!! And yet people will believe an email!! And not research this wild story!!! I am disgusted. I am angry and I am sad.

Update: The blog I read this on has recanted the initial claim that the UK had banned teaching the Holocaust. [thank goodness because I really like her writing and her blog!!]
I know that it must be very challenging for teachers to teach the Holocaust to some (not all) Muslim students who are taught at home that it never happened but it is a challenge that must be met head on. As Edmund Burke (allegedly) said: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

thinking blogger award

I just received a nomination from Horizon for a thinking blogger award. I am touched and honoured - she has so many blogs on her roll and so many wonderful people comment on her blog I'm quite shocked that she picked my blog!
The task is now passed to me to do the same for five blogs that make me think.

I wish I could nominate the entire New Orleans blogging community, but as it is here are a few bright sparks:

Mark at Wetbank Blog. Always hard hitting, always controversial, always makes me think. My IQ goes up after every visit.

Traveling mermaid was my first foray into the NOLA blogging circle. I love her blog - full of fun, feisty political commentary and music (really like Rotary Downs that she linked to recently!).

Adrastos is a Nola blogger with a taste for British politics. My two worlds converge somewhat, under his posts. I am also glad to hear of someone else who reads the Guardian in N'awlins.

Ashley Morris is way more intelligent than I could ever hope to be and my wee brain cells get quite the workout following all his witty comments and links.

And finally a non-N'awlins blog:
Katie at Longayelander is an American girl from Long Island who is experiencing the joys (and irn bru, pub culture, and vomit...) of living in Glasgow. Its definitely thought provoking to see my country through an other's eyes.

My Art

This is an oil painting I did about 6 years ago from our deck in Cincinnati. It was one of those paintings I thought I'd more to finish on it and then realized I liked it just the way it was.
This is on a box canvas - it stands about 4 inches out from the wall - arylic (Golden - they rock!)
This I intended to be a background for something and then Dazza said he liked it just the way it was - it reminds me of Louisiana swamp (or a little - OK a very little - like Turner's expansive skies).

This was inspired by the last - and I like to think of it as a Miami hurricane - the wind blowing, the green sky of a storm all framed in Art Deco pink.

This is the last in this inspirational mode. It reminds me of the formations we saw in Moab last summer.

Autism and Blogging

I have just seen the most incredible video on Apophenia blog. I urge you to watch it - its the youtube after her incredible photos of a deserted factory in Michigan. After watching the video click here.

Books and Their Covers

I've recently discovered the joys of Library Thing. I actually stumbled across it quite a while ago and was intimidated by the scale of the website and putting in my books. Then I saw a book widget on another blog and suddenly I was hooked.

You see, I love books. Really love books. I have an inherited problem whereby I find it next to impossible to pass a bookshop without entering and buying books. So much so that as an English Lit student at Edinburgh Uni I used to avoid walking on the same side of the street as the Waterstones on Princes Street. There is one at either end so I knew I was safe if I stuck to the middle (but I often lapsed - and that's not mentioning Thins, and the smaller equally yummy bookshops around George Square).

I love text, I like how it looks, even from before I could read or write. Books to me are almost too good to be read. When I look at a book I see the endless possibilities of what is within it. I almost don't want to read it because I don't want to be disappointed. But I also cannot wait to read it. That's why my favourite books are so inherently exciting to me because they fulfilled my dream of what they could be and why the ones that let me down are so disappointing. Have you ever noticed the emphasis that is always placed on settling down with a good book- what if its not?

I also love book covers. I like the different designs and graphics and I know "Never judge a book by its cover". I'm sorry but I do. There I said it! What a book looks like and feels like and what the typeface is so important to me.

I was lucky to have the most fantastic job during my masters. I worked in the university library's conservation department. My job was to repair the library's book collection. I had to mend tears, restitch book blocks, mend covers. I loved it. I was even luckier in that the guys who ran the department were not only the nicest guys and great for a laugh but also were kind enough to teach me how to make a book from scratch. I learnt how to make a small 'normal' sized book which I gave to Dazza for his birthday a few years back. And they helped me make our wedding album - which is huge.

Patriarchal Vienna

The Vienna Phil have long been renowned for their playing, for the gusto and bravado of their Mahler and Strauss, their exquisite molding of the classical melodies of Mozart and Haydn. They have also long been known for their adherence to tradition. They have a distinct sound, an exact idea of how things should be played in the Vienna Philharmonic.

They have also long been known for traditionally being an all male orchestra. In this modern era where orchestras have a much larger proportion of female musicians in the ranks (the New York Phil has a ration of 40% women; and the introduction of screens particularly in America has increased female musicians in orchestra by 50%), it is almost baffling that this orchestra is still in the dark ages when it comes to gender equality. Don't get me wrong they claim to want to increase their female membership (which used to consist of a lone harpist and substitute musicians - or musicians that are members of vienna state opera but not the phil). But they do not follow through.

They claim that their tradition is what gives them their greatness and their sound. Their tradition definitely keeps them in the nineteenth century. Their claims make it apparent that they still believe that women musicians are not as capable as their male counterparts. The they that I am referring to is the orchestral musicians themselves (who are, ehhhm, lets see ... oh .. yeah men) as they pride themselves on being a democratic organization where the members vote on everything. Saying that they wish to increase their female membership and then not hiring any women speaks volumes about how the Vienna Phil really feel about gender equality.

I heard this orchestra in Carnegie Hall a few years back. They were exciting and vibrant. Haitink was conducting and I was enthralled. The interesting thing is that this performance which had every ounce of me invested in every note had a significant number of women in the orchestra. I realise that they were probably all substitutes (orchestras commonly use quite a lot of subs when they go on tour - which is why when I saw Berlin at the Proms in London ten years ago there was a woman in the double bass section!). I would be very interested to hear if anyone would try to make the claim that the orchestra would have sounded better without them!

I have to sadly agree with Justin Davidson whose post on Newsday brought this sorry affair to my attention, that I too will forgo any chance to hear this orchestra until they start to play from the same hymn sheet as the rest of the twenty-first century.

Scored!!

Just found these weird and wonderful scores!! Definitely a challenge to read - but then every since john Cage scores have been fair game for artistic license - I do wonder how some of these sound though but I'd love to have them hanging on my wall.
For more see here.

St Kilda Opera

I am excited to hear about a new and innovative project that the Gaelic Arts Agency is developing involving St Kilda (see here). An opera of sorts has been commissioned. I means of sorts because the "performance" on June 22nd & 23rd of this year will take place in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Scotland simultaneously. All places will view the same script, score, pre-filmed material and satellite link-up to St Kilda itself. There will be vertical dancers (see here) from France and traditional and new song in Gaelic. The basis of the story (although they're not giving much away on their website) is the tough life of the St Kildans before they were evacuated in the 1930s.

I have a soft spot for St Kilda. Not just because of the romance of "the islands on the edge of the world" or the tight knit community that clung to traditional ways for survival in such an inhospitable place but because when I was a child my Dad used to go off to St Kilda for two week trips. He went with the National Trust to help in the rebuilding of the only village on the island. He would come back with stories of the St Kildan mouse, wren and soay sheep. We would sit as family around our big oak dining table and watch the slides he took of this magical place. He told us also of the little boat that would carry the team out to the islands and how the sea was so rough that the boat would be almost vertical at times but that didn't bother him as he inherited his sea legs from my great-great grandfather who sailed schooner ships from the west coast of Scotland to the 'New States of America'.

My sister, brother and I were always fascinated by the St Kildan 'post' which was a slightly more sophisticated "message in a bottle". They would put postcards and letters in a vessel and make it sea worthy and set it off to be carried to the mainland by the waves. We were always fascinated when the postcards he sent us arrived - normally after he had been home for a few weeks.

He told us of the St Kildans who developed an unusually large big toe to be able to climb down the enormous cliffs (one being the same height as the Empire State). The St Kildans ate sea birds to survive and would use every last bit of each bird to make oil, soap etc. They had little connection with the outside world until Calvinism arrived in the form of a minister in a boat and a Kirk was built. They were a democracy. Every morning the men would meet in the street to decide the day's business. When little needed doing this meeting was more like a sewing circle. All the food that was caught was shared out equally regardless of who caught what or how much. And they had no mirrors. This last fact has always fascinated me.

I am deeply curious about this opera and hope it is a big success. I wish I could see it. The website says there will be a DVD so hopefully I can get a hold of one. I like how the definition of 'opera' is being broken down in this aspect. I know some die hard traditionalists will gripe and moan about it (because they always do) but I like the use of modern technology in Art. It adds perspectives that were unseen before and can link experiences thousands of miles apart.

Blog Facelift

I've decided what I'm going to use this blog for. Its going to be the receptacle for all the political ravings, silly ramblings, and probably some reviews or thoughts on the current books I'm reading.
I'm also going to post more links to stuff I find procrastinating online. Like this and this and this and maybe that.
I have no idea what will appear or if any of it will be worth reading but it'll keep me occupied and off the streets ....

to be continued ......

Farewell Miami

We bid Miami and all its craziness farewell on Christmas Eve. I have to admitt neither of us was sad to leave. Miami is crazy, bright, busy but also cold and heartless. It is like a big shiney present with nothing inside.

Who knows what I'll use this blog for, if at all. We are grateful for having the experience of living in this weird place and it was a welcome jolt after the sleepiness of Ohio. But this is not our kind of place.

So farewell.

Nawlins Updates

Will be driving back to Miami on Sunday (and see Dazza .. yippeee) until that brand of craziness returns I'm writing a bunch of stuff on my Nawlins blog.

back to craziness

Dazza and I went for a stroll down to the post office on Washington Ave this afternoon and were immediately confronted with the reality of living in South Beach: a woman urinating in squating position, pants off, in the middle of the sidewalk!!

Oooh ooh - we crossed the street asap and shuddered but admittedly she could have been doing much worse.....

In contrast we were walking down Lincoln road avoiding as many tourists as we could (very challenging) when we heard a great squalking coming from the palm trees. We looked up to see lots of green birds which looked like budgies poking out at the base of the palm leaves.

It also goes without saying that we passed many half naked bodies, people muttering to themselves, ugly men dressed as women, fake breasts and way way too much perfume and cologne!!

Sad News

My wonderful Granda is in the hospital and is dying. He is 86yrs old and has had a long and rich life but I wish we could have another year.
So I am flying back to the UK today and flying to Aberdeen from London on Thursday. I know I may arrive too late but I want to try my best and at the very least be there to raise a dram and give him a proper send off.

New Blog: New City

I fell in love with New Orleans. I have only been there for two weeks and neither of those were Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest or Halloween. But this is a city that seduces quickly and you soon learn to know what it is to miss New Orleans.

I have so much to write about what I saw, experienced and felt in that city, that I have decided that it is worthy of its own blog. To please go to my new blog at
kursetnawlins.blogspot.com
Or you can also click on the link to the side that says "My New Orleans Blog"

This blog will primarily be for Miami and my other wanderings.

New Car: must be a grown up!!

Yesterday we bought a new car - so brand spankingly new that we haven't even seen it yet!!! Its a Honda "Fit" (for those in Europe its the same as a honda "jazz"). Its a wee car but its a 5 door and the seats fold brilliantly so there is lots of space. Of course because this is America they make a HUGE deal about how much SPACE they have - like they want to say this is a small car but really it is modelled on the Doctor Who tardus and it is mammoth inside. I was extremmely amused by this - europeans know that its a wee car and that's great!!
Anyway the reason we haven't seen our purchase yet is that they are "hot" (not stolen - popular!!) and "cool" so they are all sold before they reach the showroom. We need the car asap as I'm off to New Orleans with our volkswagen and Dazza need to get to work. So we needed the next one that is coming in next week - so we ended up with the "sport" version and no choice over the colour. So what colour is it? It is SO Miami: it's white!!!
So we now have another sizable car payment - wee hee!! But we'd rather buy the car than lease it with all the worry of damage and going over the mileage and then you have to give it back with nothing to show for all your money. We know that Honda is reliable and we should be able to drive the car to its grave.
The big discussion now is whether Dazza gets the new car or me - do we add more miles to the volkswagen that already has a lot of miles on it or do I put them on the new car?
Anyway, I'm feeling very much like a grown up now having bought a car and having a proper job. I suppose its about time now I'm 30!!

N'awlins

Got some amazing news yesterday. I have been offered a job in New Orleans!! I have to leave on Monday for the Big Easy. I am so excited for this new experience and the job. Dazza will be staying in South Beach and I'll come back as often as I can (the job is until May and I won't know until April if it permenant). So my blogging will be sporadic until I find a library to use the computer and I will post photos of N'awlins when I am back in Miami. I know I will have plenty to write about - from the reconstruction, the devastation, the music coming back, the politics of it all and of course the food!! (one of my friends has already told me to skip the gumbo - it's "minging" apparently!? I guess I'm also going to hear plenty of creole in the morning now!!

Raindrop Abstracts

These are some silly photos of some raindrops on my window:

Raindrops keep falling on my head

You would think I would be an expert on rain, coming from Scotland. But I am finding out that there is one type I have not known: Miami rain. It is pouring outside - and I mean pouring, like there is an old woman with a bucket pouring water down upon our heads. It has been like this for two days now and I'm beginning to feel a bit cooped up in our tweeny weeny apartment. It is still warm - 83 farenheit, 27 celsuis. So maybe I'll do an impression of Gene Kelly and go jumping through some puddles. I'll just have to watch out for frogs and toads. There were a group of them outside our window again today - maybe they were having a party as my Granny would say.